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Friday, January 22, 2010

Hard to read much from this regatta given the circumstances but...The JP/ML10 looks to need a bit of fine tuning to get up to speed. I was on the L8 for the race and seemed to have a slight edge on Ron on his new JP. Off the wind he was deeper. Micah had an (obvious) edge on both of us and at most times was pushing BRA999 and BRA3333 in front.Fernando was on the on the north proto on day 3 going much faster than the 09 norths.Both he and BRA3333 made the PD board look easy in the light stuff.Paulo's 2010 north warps looked very powerful and lighter with one less batten in the formula sails this year and finally a roller cam for the bottom batten!Micah's NP proto was a cross between the evo2 & gaastra instant clew- very clean trailing edge!I sailed the NP 10.7 evo 2 on Day 1 when the breeze was up to the low-mid 20's with great results. Lots of range, easy to handle, great acceleration and speed. As the wind died in race 2 to under 12k, the 10.7 lacked the power of the 12.3 which I used for the remaining races- all under 14kMost of the fleet are still using kashy and ifju fins with the wider cut down fins (75cm+) working best in the light breeze.The new NP boom looks well refined with a full carbon head and wide tail.2 guys on the *BD HWR stating much improvements from prev. editions and looked faster in the light breeze.

The ML10 has the same recessed deck at the mast foot and looks to be 1-1/2 kg lighter despite Mike Z using more glass in is boards vs the full carbon construction of the JP board.The recessed deck looks to be great for pulling the board around with your front foot at a tack- as shown in the video above.The double chicken strap should make going downwind in any breeze relatively easy to unload the fin.I think the biggest variable will be with finding the right mast tract position in relation to your sail and fin size.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Things didn't look too promising on day 3 with the forecast for getting another race in and drop for the series but somehow a few sailors managed to make it around the course with out an abandonment flag by the RC.Conditions were sketch at best with an offshore shifty and variable breeze. Just like Saturday we were overlapped with several other fleets running a course in the same waters on the Biscayne Bay. With the windward mark set close to shore, it was anybody's guess on how to best get there. The top boards planned off the line leaving the rest of the fleet parked.Both left and right corners failed miserably and patience was the name of the game to get upwind with such wide upwind reaching angles. BRA3333 set the pace on his custom north 12.0 and new PD formula board with some blazing speed and angle keeping a commanding lead the entire race with local Fernando Martinez on north and PD board keeping pace just behind.By the time I rounded the top mark I was deep and took off in the opposite corner as the fleet ahead and by the bottom mark was rounding comfortably in 3rd as the right side sat parked.The lesson is never give up.Soon enough on the 2nd upwind Micah was back and tacked in front of me at what was the port layline.As another puff approached we split tacks and I headed even deep to the left corner, overstanding the top mark by miles and coming back to round planing as the USA34, BRA999 and K all sat parked on the right side.I held on to 3rd but with Fernando finishing in 2nd he got the last laugh to get me by 1 point in the overall. Schurman and Micah both got their drops with the fifth and final race and closed out the top 3.Best performance goes toBRA3333 Paulo Des Reis with 3 bullets never out of the top 2.Impressive. The new Norths looks like they've got lots of power again.Also it was great to see a Micah back in the fleet with the new JP board and some innovative sail changes from NP.As always, a huge thanks to the Shake A Leg Sailing Center in Miami and the Alex Caviliga Blue Water Foundation for a great regatta. It was great to see the other classes actively represented as well with a strong junior 293 , kona and rsx fleets.Results can be found here

Sunday, January 17, 2010

With a fast approaching storm this morning, the 3 fleets rushed to geta race underway but unfortunatlly the squall caused some huge chaosand the fleets were sent back to shore. Once everything passed, race 3got underway with the rsx and kona/techno 293 fleets starting andfinally another race for the formula fleet. I had the chance to porttack the fleet but didn't quite pull the trigger in time and duckedthe first 3 guys at the pin. Off to the right side I banged the cornerand was looking good until I sat parked in a lull as the left sidecrossed ahead. From there it was catch up trying to gain as muchtactical advantage over the next 3 legs picking off 1 board at a timeto finish a strong 3 just catching Fernando at the last gybe in frontof the finish. Schurman was OCS with Micah and Paulao taking acommanding lead..

Thanks to MiamiWindsurfing for the photosBy the time race 4 started the breeze was down to 10-12k and I waslooking for all the power my 12.3 had and 72xxs kashy would give me.Booms high, outhaul bagged and harness lines long. I even tried mymast track back to 42" from the front fin screw.Again a port start with the whole fleet charging the line except forMicah coming down fast on starboard. I gor off the line well and offto the right corner with speed but backing down 2x to clear the weedson my fin In the light stuff it's important to remember that yourlaylines are further than normal. I tacked and came up short havingto tack another 4x to round the top mark. At that time the top 3 weregone and I struggled to catch the 4 boards who rounded just in frontof me to salvage a 6th, pumping hard all the way to the finish.So with only 4 races complete I find myself in 3rd as we need 5 racesfor a throwout. Both Micah and Schurman are sitting deep both carryingan OCS.Paulao and Fernando have sailed the most consistant and thus are inthe top 2 spots.Mondays forecast looks dismal but anything can happen.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

A quick report from day 1 in Miami @ the caviliga regatta.All the usual characters + some new faces at the first regatta of the season.The formula fleet got off to a late start but managed 1 race in the breeze with Schurman BRA999 taking the bullet just infront of fellow Brazillian BRA3333 and Buzianis in 3rd. I managed to stay in front if the rest of the rest of the fleet with the winds building up to the mid 20s.A quick break for lunch on the barrier island was all it took for the breeze to calm down as sailors began to shift gears into light wind mode. Most of the fleet was still on their 10s and 11s struggeling for power. I managed to sail pretty fast but in the wrong direction as I banged the right corner, tacked and game over. Not enough time for a recovery with just a 2 lap race.Buzianis got the bullet but was osc.Finally we tried to start a 3rd race in little to no wind and it was abandoned as most of the fleet never got planning.Tommorows forecast looks decent with 15-20k.SteveUSA4

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The northerlies continued all week with more formula and slalom sailing on the SF Bay.Even some time at fort point catching the outside break but the lee of the south tower on a NE breeze throws a big shadow. Jean got sucked in for a good 5 min before having to paddle out.The best breeze was in the middle of the bay but the swell and sunshine under the gate were temping. It was this time about 4 years ago I got sucked out the gate on a big ebb tide and rescued by the coast guard. Needless to say, I keep a better eye on the tides. With a northerly or NE breeze, the marin headlands shuts down most of the wind under and outside the bridge.

Fridays afternoon slalom session was lit on the warp 7.3 and 105l slalom board in 12-22kA bit too much power with the 42 cm fin when it gets above 16-18k but Jean, Andre and I got some amazingly fast runs from anita rock to the presidio shoals & out the slot. See the 2nd 1/2 of Jeans winter sailing video below.Saturday saw the breeze fill in late but I got 2 solid sessions in with the warp 11.0 and ML10.Im beginning to get a better feel for the sweet spot on the board. Downwind feels the best with the board working really well in the outside, chicken and double chicken straps.Thanks for Dwells @ Waterhound for the photosand Jean for the headcam videos.Also check out the photos of Wells sailing his kona at ft point on sunday.http://plminteractive.com/jmphoto/proofs/10_01_10_ftpt_wind/Despite trying the 7.3/slalom combo just wasnt enough to get up there

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Wednesday Jan 6 got me back on the water again after 3 weeks of being landlocked!The sheer sensation of tracking a formula board upwind @ 25k is truly spectacular.Under the golden gate is even more fantastic.The ML10 felt more dialed in with the 10m rig as the 15-20k NE gusts filled into the beach @ crissy field. I ran my track @ bit further forward than before with 114cm to the front fin bolt. Downwind it was fantastic. The board tracks well and really goes deep with the chicken and 3/4 chicken. I wish I could say the same about my gybes and tacks.My hands and feet only lasted about an hour on the water before turning a useless numb.

2 times outside the gate to the red nun before finding a wicked eddy amongst the afternoon flood tide and having to unwind ourselves from the lee of the south tower.No chance of finding any swell @ft point.USA13 and I ran a skewed Friday night course A in the NE breeze for some power reaching between Anita and X.My thigh muscles were pretty useless after that.

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Welcome to the latest edition of USA-4 Windsurfing - Ill be attempting to update my past regatta reports on this site as well as put new reports so it will be easier to access, update, and archive...enjoy the ride